20150725

An Asteroid Nearly Wipes Out The Largest City On Earth In 1908


At 7:17 AM on June 30, 1908, a burning hunk of rock blasted across the skies of Russia, finally exploding with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima bombs. 

An area of trees spanning 800 square miles was instantly flattened. People were knocked to the ground over 40 miles away. The blast was felt on the other side of the continent.

The Tunguska asteroid remains the biggest modern impact. By sheer fluke, it landed in a remote stretch of wilderness. Almost nobody was hurt, although a handful of deaths were recorded. 

A tiny twist of cosmic fate, and things could have been a lot worse. While the Tunguska explosion would have been devastating over any town or city, if it arrived six hours earlier, it would have hit the largest city on Earth: London.

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